DECOLONISING THE AFRIKAN MIND: A CULTURAL REVOLUTION

Kenyan based Pan-Afrikan writers’ collective Jalada Africalast week published the short story, Ituĩka Rĩa Mũrũngarũ: Kana Kĩrĩa Gĩtũmaga Andũ Mathiĩ Marũngiĩ, by infamous Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thing’o in over 30 languages, namely; Kikuyu, Ahmharic, Dholuo, Kikamba, Lwisukha-Lwidakho, Ikinyarwada, Arabic, Luganda, Kiswahili, Afrikaans, Hausa, Meru, Lingala, IsiZulu, Igbo, Ibibio, Somali, isiNdebele, XiTsonga, Nandi, Rukiga, Lugbarati, Shona, Lubukusu, Kimaragoli, Giriama, Sheng, Ewe, Naija Languej, Marakwet plus French and English, making it the single most translated African short story. This is big, and it is not getting nearly half the attention it deserves. This article seeks to stress on the significance of this and why it is what every single Afrikan should be fussing about right now.

In the Afrikan struggle for independence, most – if not all – efforts were geared towards a political revolution. Afrikan nations sought to break away from western rule and establish their own political institutions that would work for the betterment of the Afrikan people. How far this has been achieved, of course, is a matter of ongoing debate, one I shall not delve into today. Every time a flag was raised up in an Afrikan nation on Independence Day there was a celebration. We sang songs of freedom. The women swayed their hips to the beat of drums and the men shouted “UHURU!” – Swahili for ‘freedom’. Freedom at last, we rejoiced!

Were we really free though? Are we really free?

Colonialism was not just damaging physically, but mentally. It is neither new, nor far-fetched an argument to say that the colonising of the Afrikan mind, allowed for breeding space for its physical wing. Without the tying up of Afrikan minds in a manner suitable to the western agenda – from the use of Christianity as a tool to clamp down on, and discredit Afrikan spirituality to the shaming of Afrikan languages making English language the more superior – the effects of colonialism would not have been as devastating on the continent, as they are today.

Traditionally, Afrikans are storytellers. Cultures and identities have been learnt and passed down generations through the art of story telling. Colonialism defamed these cultures and attempted to obliterate our languages. We were taught to bite our tongues because the roll of our native languages on our tongues was alien to the colonial masters. Subsequently, many of our stories were lost and with that, our identity. When we broke free from the physical shackles of colonialism our minds remained entrapped. Education today, remains synonymous with the ability to speak fluent English and shame lingers around our native languages and accents. We are still chasing after development that trivialises our own cultures while putting all that is western on a pedestal.

In his book ‘The Mis-Education of the Negro’, Dr. Carter G. Woodson addresses the cultural indoctrination of the African Americans in the education system, noting, “when you control a man’s thinking, you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his ‘proper place’ and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit”.

The Afrikan does not have control over his mind. The Afrikan mind remains colonised, therefore self-destructive. I am of the strong belief that without a cultural revolution – a resetting of the Afrikan mind -, any other form of revolution, be it economic or political, remains retrogressive as we lack understanding of ourselves, making it difficult, if not impossible, to know where we are headed. Afrikans are yet to experience a cultural revolution, which is in my opinion, inevitable if Afrika is to truly rise. The translation of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s short story into over 30 languages, with most of these being indigenous languages of people across the continent, goes beyond just literature – though that in, and of itself is already grandeur.

It sparks the fire for a Cultural Revolution, a defiance of the system of white supremacy that taught us to be ashamed of our languages and identity. It re-instils pride, for every one of the times in primary school I secretly preferred introducing my father, rather than my mother, to my friends because he spoke fluent English, and I had been conditioned to find pride in that, and not in the fact that my mum had excellent grasp of Dinka, Arabic, Swahili and Amharic.

It puts up resistance against the notion that there is some shame in speaking Kikuyu, Igbo or Zulu, and not English. It provides a stepping-stone of pride for every Afrikan child afraid to speak up in class because the fusion of his accent from his mother tongue, into his speaking of English, is ‘laughable’. It is an intellectual warfare against reductionism and the idea that literacy is only evidenced when one can read the words ‘freedom’ and not ‘uhuru’. It is a literary bridge between the Afrikan people, and I would even dare say a pathway to Afrikan unity, as it transcends geographical borders and tribalism. This impressive translation of Ngugi’s short story into over 30 languages, serves as a solid starting point to a cultural exchange on a continental level.

It is a cultural revolution here to reclaim the Afrikan dignity, the Afrikan culture, the Afrikan pride and most importantly, the Afrikan narrative, through literature. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why every single Afrikan should be making a big deal of the single most translated short story, Ituĩka Rĩa Mũrũngarũ: Kana Kĩrĩa Gĩtũmaga Andũ Mathiĩ Marũngiĩ, by Ngugi wa Thiong’o andJalada Africa, the force behind it.

This is more than literary gold, this is Afrikan gold.

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One thought on “DECOLONISING THE AFRIKAN MIND: A CULTURAL REVOLUTION”

I am definitely for the anti-globalization of the English language, and understand the negative impacts of language death, and its role in the loss of one’s identity. Sometimes when someone compliments me on my ‘good English’ I feel ashamed that I speak my colonizers language better than my own. But then if we are to actually undergo a cultural revolution ( felalation), how do we resolve the resulting clash with the global community. Britain (tiny little island that it is) had the most colonies in Afrika, and as a result we inherited, their tongue, their legal systems, way of life (questionable?) learning institution systems and many more. As a result, the minds of the older generation (by this I am referring to the people in power) has been so corrupt, to the extent that they truly believe that the English language and European culture (whatever it is) is far more superior. So if we are to undergo this revolution, how do we change the minds of our elders, and show them what the negative impacts of the loss of all afrikan culture will have on our continent. I mean they could care less, they’re reaping all the fruits of the alliances they make with foreign countries, as if Afrika doesn’t have greater things to offer. Also, what of the fact that the global community has made it so that the only way to get a good advancement in one’s career, or in any legal profession was through affuently speaking the English language. How do we change the minds of teachers and others in Afrika to notice the fact that this is playing into the hands of the neo-colonizers. I guess it’s a good thing that we’re finally learning some Afrikan literature, in the likes of Soyinka, Achebe etc, in our schools, but how do we convert this to apply to everything else we learn. Many people in our generation are beginning to fully grasp the importance and significance of being ‘woke’ and how it shapes our ideals and views on current issues. Not to say we should fully dispel foreign artists and people who have been preaching the importance of issues like black empowerment and etc, but what of the fact that as African we praise all these people more than those here at home. Take people like Sister Fa, who rap against FGM, or the great Fela ( though quite a bit of a misogynist) who try to help us, as you call it reclaim our minds. How do we expose these type of people to the Afrikan child, who believes that American or British pop culture is far more superior?